Book Title
Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire
by James Wallace & Jim Erickson
Published By: Harper Collins, 1992
Genre: Nonfiction | Biography & Memoir, Business and Economics
Page Count: 426 (Paperback)
ISBN: 9780887306297
Publisher’s Description
In this fascinating exposé, two investigative reporters trace the hugely successful career of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Part entrepreneur, part enfant terrible, Gates has become the most powerful — and feared — player in the computer industry, and arguably the richest man in America. In Hard Drive, investigative reporters Wallace and Erickson follow Gates from his days as an unkempt thirteen-year-old computer hacker to his present-day status as a ruthless billionaire CEO. More than simply a “revenge of the nerds” story though, this is a balanced analysis of a business triumph, and a stunningly driven personality. The authors have spoken to everyone who knows anything about Bill Gates and Microsoft — from childhood friends to employees and business rivals who reveal the heights, and limits, of his wizardry. From Gates’s singular accomplishments to his equally extraordinary brattiness, arrogance, and hostility (the atmosphere is so intense at Microsoft that stressed-out programmers have been known to ease the tension of their eighty-hour workweeks by exploding homemade bombs), this is a uniquely revealing glimpse of the person who has emerged as the undisputed king of a notoriously brutal industry.
About the Author
James I. Wallace, Ph.D., has spent his career practicing as a clinical psychologist, educational psychologist, and sports psychologist. He has practiced golf a lot, too, with little success. He earned his knowledge of aikido by serving as the chief instructor (Sensei) of two dojos in Southern California and one in Ithaca, NY, before running the Colgate University Aikido Club in Hamilton, NY, the past quarter of a century. He lives there with his wife, Colgate University Professor Ann Jane Tierney, and he teaches P.E. courses in wellness, as well. They have two young adult daughters, Jasmine and Gemma, striving to live well in Virginia and Colorado, respectively.